A council has paid out £870,000 in compensation to workers in five years, including £2,000 to an employee who injured himself moving a laptop, and £7,000 to one who slipped on a polished floor.

East Sussex County Council also forked out £1,000 to an ’employee injured whilst placing rubbish into a skip’, £6,000 to a worker who was injured while ‘closing a window’, and £1,575 to a member of staff who was ‘hit on head by car park barrier’.

On top of this they were forced to pay out £26,000 for a worker who slipped on ice in a car park and £2,500 for a worker who sat on a piano stool which collapsed.

I am a journalist and author. I am a staff writer at the UK edition of WIRED magazine and in 2015 my book, Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. I created FOI Directory in 2012.